Page 37 - English Reader - 7

their eyes glared, and they howled with fury.

The thought flashed on my mind that by turning aside whenever they

came too near I might avoid them; for, owing to the formation of their
feet, they are unable to run on ice except in a straight line. I immediately

acted upon this plan, but the wolves having regained their feet sprang
directly toward me.

The race was renewed for twenty yards up the stream; they were almost
close at my back, when I glided round and dashed directly past them.

A fierce yell greeted this movement, and the wolves, slipping on their
haunches, again slid onward, presenting a perfect picture of helplessness

and disappointed rage. Thus I gained nearly a hundred yards at each
turning. This was repeated two or three times, the baffled animals

becoming every moment more and more excited.

At one time, by delaying my turning too long, my bloodthirsty antagonists

came so near that they threw their white foam over my coat as they
sprang to seize me, and their teeth clashed together like the spring of a

fox-trap. Had my skates failed for one instant, had I tripped on a stick, or
had my foot been caught in a fissure, the story I am now telling would

never have been told.

I thought over all the chances. I knew where they would first seize me if
I fell. I thought how long it would be before I died, and then of the search
for my body: for oh, how fast man’s mind traces out all the dread colors

of death’s picture only those who have been near the grim original can

tell!

At last I came opposite the cabin, and my hounds--I knew their deep

voices--roused by the noise, bayed furiously from their kennels. I heard
their chains rattle--how I wished they would break them!--then I should

Dolphin English Reader Book 7 37